Everything You Need to Know About International Employees

Business Insights
18/12/2019

International employees can make things easier for companies, but some people may worry about the logistics of overseas employees. However, things can be easier than you initially expect. Keep these points in mind as you hire international employees to make the process as easy as possible for both of you.


How to Keep Communication Tight

When you work with an international employee, you need to find ways to effectively communicate. After all, you will face time zone differences which can make it hard to complete tasks. This is why it's important to establish a reliable communication channel between you and international employees.


First, you should pick a channel that you can use with all of your employees. This way, you avoid any issues of forgetting to contact an employee through a different channel. For example, if you contact all of your employees through Slack, you may forget about an international employee who you contact through text messages.


There are plenty of ways you can contact international employees. Common ones include email, Slack and other instant messaging apps. These allow you to easily communicate with those employees and keep things organized. Make sure that it's a channel that works for your international employees as well.


Meeting Strategies for Time Zone Differences

Time zones create major issues for some international employees. If your time zones are more than 10 hours apart, you can have some serious problems finding a time that would work for both of you. This will come down to the flexibility of both of your schedules.


Communicate with your international employee to find a time that would work for both of you. Can your international employee meet outside of normal work hours? This shouldn't be an issue for your employee if they are a freelancer. If not, and there's no other option, you can offer extra money for meeting outside of work hours.


Make sure that it's a time that you both agree to. If you try and force a specific time without their consent, you could lose an employee. Ensure that you communicate and figure it out. It will vary depending on the employee, but that's why you communicate to figure it out.


Keep It Consistent

Whatever avenue you use to communicate or specific schedules you set up, make sure that it remains consistent. This will make things easier for both of you. Your employee will know when they need to work and you will have an expectation for when they need to get that work back to you.


If you don't keep things consistent, you can create unnecessary stress for yourself and your employees. For example, if you throw a sudden deadline at them, you both will stress over the employees finishing the work.


When you maintain consistency, you keep your employees happy. This will encourage them to continue to work for you and to give you the best work possible. This keeps things simple for all of you and helps you all to have efficiency through your consistency.


Paying International Freelancers

Sometimes companies can struggle to find an effective way to pay international workers. Even for locations such as the Philippines, you can find a way to send them money. If you have a freelance employee in Manilla it is easy to send money to the Philippines through the Western Union app.


You can use different apps to pay international freelancers. This includes Western Union, PayPal and other money transfer apps. This allows you to easily send money to workers without worrying about conversion rates and other concerns. Your employees also don't have to worry about sending personal information since most of these apps handle that.


Using these apps makes payment easier for you and for freelancers. If it doesn't work for them, you can always send them a check. Make sure to talk with freelancers and come to an agreement for payment. This should prevent any potential problems.


Conclusion

While working with international employees can pose some challenges, their assistance and work can help your company. Keep this in mind and find ways to work with international employees to get extra help with your business.